Monaco – Free Practice 1: Hamilton finds his rhythm, Verstappen impresses!

The first session opens in Monaco and, surprise, the track is wet in several areas. It must be said that the day before, the Principality had the experience of an unexpected spring storm. The temperature on the track is only 16°C, and the humidity level exceeds 50%. The consequence is quick to come: the drivers opt for intermediate tires for their first reconnaissance laps.

After several installation laps, Lewis Hamilton sets a benchmark of 1’23″103. His teammate Nico Rosberg, who won here last year, faces more difficulties: he even lightly brushes the right-side barrier with his car. The mechanics are busy ensuring everything is fine for the world vice-champion, who indeed returns to the track. Also struggling at the start of the session, Carlos Sainz complains of too much rear locking.

Kimi Räikkönen appears quite quick, setting a time six-tenths off Hamilton. Not yet satisfied, the Finn seems unable to get his soft tires up to temperature, which is not very surprising. He will later complain again, this time about his front end.

After half an hour, the track begins to dry up well, but Alonso and Massa go straight on at Sainte-Dévote without consequence. During the next fifteen minutes, Lewis Hamilton improves his times again, clocking in a nice 1:18.750. Vettel follows with a 1:19.382. In the following lap, the German Ferrari driver locks his wheels and almost crashes at No. 4! The barriers will be a constant threat throughout the weekend…

Lower down in the standings, Romain Grosjean finally drives in FP1 in place of the test driver, Jolyon Palmer. His Lotus doesn’t seem fast enough at the moment to aim for the top 10. For McLaren, the start of the session is unfortunately difficult for Jenson Button due to an issue with his MGU-K; the English driver only hits the track after an hour into the session. Fernando Alonso, who hopes to score his first points this Sunday, peeks into the top 10, one second behind Hamilton. Rather encouraging.

While Kimi Räikkönen completes laps with probably a lot of fuel, the Toro Rosso cars, as in Barcelona, show they will have to be reckoned with in qualifying. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz rank 4th and 6th, respectively 0.6 and 0.8 seconds off Hamilton’s time. Daniel Ricciardo is positioned better, at 0.5 seconds, whereas his teammate Kyvat, 1.3 seconds behind Hamilton, is still experiencing some difficulties.

In the final seconds of the session, Pastor Maldonado significantly improves his performance to rank 5th. Overall temperatures have increased, and performances have followed with soft tires warming up more easily. This is evidenced by the impressive final time of Max Verstappen, just 0.15 seconds behind Hamilton! The young Dutchman, who is the only driver to have never competed in a race in Monaco, is certainly impressive…

At the end of the time of this first session, Lewis Hamilton stands alone at the top with a solid time; but the Mercedes appear to have a good margin for improvement, especially since Nico Rosberg, only 9th, was unable to complete his last fast lap. We still lack elements of comparison between the two teammates… The second force on this grid seems to be the Ferraris, but the Toro Rossos, once again very speedy over a lap, could play the spoilsport. The overall performances should obviously be put into perspective, as in any first session, especially since the Williams (Massa 10th, Bottas 17th) were strangely off pace.